Chapter 384 (1/2)

Daemyung bid goodbye to writers Ahn and Bae, as well as Gwak Joon as he hugged the laptop bag tightly. The three of them told him that they still had things to do before they wrapped up. On the elevator down, Daemyung kept staring at the laptop bag. The pressure of having received an expensive product, the joy of getting something he wanted, and lastly, the weight of the words he heard as he received the laptop swirled inside his head and heart.

Along with a ringing sound, the elevator opened. When he went past the short corridor and down the stairs, he saw a little bird standing in front of the parking lot. The bird cocked its head a few times as though it was eating before flying into the sky. Looking at the bird that eventually became a dot and disappeared, a line popped up inside Daemyung’s head - I will create good writings with this laptop.

He put the laptop bag inside his backpack carefully and closed the bag. His chest heated up for some reason. He wanted to sit down immediately and start writing. Nothing came to mind though, he just wanted to write.

“Yes, Maru.”

-Where are you now? I’m just departing from Seoul.

“I’m still in Seoul.”

-That’s good, then let’s have dinner together. You haven’t eaten yet, right?

“I haven’t. Wait, is Bangjoo next to you? I think I heard his voice.”

After some noise, Bangjoo’s voice could be heard over the phone. It was as loud and cheerful as ever.

-Seonbae-nim!

“So it was Bangjoo. Let’s go have dinner together.”

-Of course! Seonbae, we’ll be waiting so come quickly.

“Okay, okay. I’ll go as soon as I can.”

-Yes! I’ll hand it back to Maru-seonbae now.

Maru picked up the phone.

-Do you remember the place we went to last time? The place we had jeyuk-bokkeum.

“I do. It was delicious.”

-Let’s go there then. Do you still remember the way?

“I vaguely remember. I’ll call you if I can’t find my way there. I do know where to get off.”

After hanging up, Daemyung spat out a deep breath before walking. He had just heard some heavy, no, scary words so it was true that he was feeling a little stuffy, but at the same time, he had the desire to focus on this path much more.

This would have been unimaginable for his past self. If it was the Park Daemyung of elementary or middle school, he would have a hard time meeting up with others outside of school. School was his only joy, and holidays were his paradise. If he continued living like that in high school as well….

‘I should be in my room right now, doing nothing.’

He dug himself a hole and hid in it without looking back, cutting off all of his connections. He insulted himself for being alone, yet he was relieved that he was alone as well. When that kind of life was about to continue for three more years, Maru talked to him. It was his salvation. That was the moment he bid farewell to his elementary and middle school days.

‘This story.’

Daemyung suddenly stopped walking. Then, he hurriedly took out a notebook from his bag and opened it. He was about to write against the wall of the building, before deciding to sit down on the spot and write. He saw the passersby watching him, and he was embarrassed to the point that his face was going to burst, but he didn’t want to miss this inspiration for a story right now. He felt that it would turn blurry and disappear if he turned around, so he quickly started writing. He found himself pathetic for his lack of vocabulary as he wrote things down, but right now, he focused on getting the story written.

“What is he doing?”

“I don’t know.”

Girls around his age stared at him as they walked by. After Daemyung wrote the last letter, he quickly stood up from the spot. He met eyes with people who were staring at him, and Daemyung covered his face with his notebook and ran away with all of his might. He went past the bus stop right in front of him and went to the next one over to take the bus. He sat down in the middle of the street and started writing. That was really unimaginable.

‘But even so.’

Daemyung tightly grabbed onto the notebook inside the shaking bus. The play script he was working on right now felt rather lacking the more he wrote. The story he started off after talking with Mintae-hyung, had been polished thanks to Gwak Joon-hyung’s advice. However, he felt that it was becoming more lacking the closer it reached the finishing line.

He finally realized what he was lacking just now.

‘My story.’

It might be pathetic and uninteresting, but it was his own story that he knew best and could sympathize with. It wasn’t a story he could introduce to others, but he felt that turning this story into a script would be more interesting than any other writing.

“I think I’ll listen to them as well.”

He promised Maru and Mintae-hyung that the three of them would one day put on a play. Han Maru would be the main character, it would be directed by Park Daemyung, and the stage would be set by Yoon Mintae. If he could complete this story and make it into a play, he would be happier than ever.

He got off the bus with an excited heart. He came to this place before with Maru. He just had to walk down the street until he came across the alleyway and if he just turned there….

“Huh?”

Daemyung took his eyes off the notebook and looked up. There was a boy who had dyed his hair yellow and wore baggy clothes. The moment he had a closer look at his face wondering if he knew that guy, Daemyung remembered the boy’s name.

“What is it? Why’d you suddenly stop?”

“What’s happening?”

At that moment, others gathered around him. Two girls and two boys. He didn’t know the girls, but he knew the three boys too well.

“It’s Park Daemyung. Wow, it’s piggy, isn’t it?”

“Dang, you lost some weight. Though, you’re still fat.”

“Wow, it’s nice seeing you here.”

Daemyung stepped backwards. They were boys from his class in his third year of middle school.

Just as the nightmares of that year became vivid again, he felt the texture of the notebook he was holding, as well as the weight of the laptop on his shoulders.

“Hey, it’s been a while.”

The boy approached him and hooked his arm around Daemyung’s shoulders. The nervousness engraved in his cells went back in time and became active again. These boys always approached him like this, bullied him, then eventually ripped money off him. Daemyung felt that his heart was racing all by itself. It wouldn’t be strange even if it stopped at any moment.

“Who is it? A friend of yours?”

“Yeah. A friend of mine from middle school.”

The girls approached and stared at him. Daemyung looked at the boys before walking forward. The arm around his shoulder naturally fell down.

“I-I’ll get going.”

In this blood-wrecking tension, Daemyung barely spoke out. If it was before, he wouldn’t have been able to utter a word. Though, his legs were still shaking.

“Hey, where are you going? We haven’t met in so long. Aren’t you glad to see me?”

The boys stopped him again. He saw the girls making a suspicious smile. They looked like they found a nice toy. They were the eyes that Daemyung had seen many times before.

“Daemyung.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“We haven’t seen each other in so long, so why don’t you treat us to something? Aren’t we friends?”

A fishy smile poked his eyes. Daemyung clenched his eyes shut. Money, he had. He still had leftover pocket money after all. Should he just give them what they wanted like middle school? Well, that was definitely the easy way out. If he just lowered his pride a little and gave them some money with a smile, the boys would probably end things with a pat on the shoulder. Just as he was about to take out the ten thousand won bill in his pocket,

-Don’t ever do anything that brings you damage.

He remembered Gwak Joon’s words. It felt as though his words were holding him.

“Uhm, I’m sorry about this, but I can’t.”

“What? You don’t have any money?”

“N-no… I do have money, but.”

“But?”

“Sorry. I can’t.”

He pushed away the guy that hung his arm around his shoulder. The boy then started laughing.